Two Manatee school administrators resign

Two Manatee County school district officials have stepped down in the wake of the Rod Frazier case, and three others were suspended without pay despite impassioned arguments from their attorneys.

Former district investigator Debra Horne has retired from the district and former staff attorney Scott Martin agreed to resign from the district, both decisions effective Nov. 2.

The three other administrators involved — assistant superintendent Bob Gagnon and former Manatee High assistant principals Matthew Kane and Gregg Faller — were suspended without pay by the School Board with unanimous 5-0 votes on each.

On Sept. 25, Superintendent Rick Mills notified the five administrators in writing that he recommended their terminations and they received administrative complaints on Oct. 4.

Gagnon, Kane and Faller have 21 days from receiving the administrative complaint, or until Oct. 25, to request a hearing contesting Mills' decision.

The five administrators have been paid more than $75,000 in salary since being put on paid leave in August.

Horne, Gagnon, Faller and Kane are facing felony charges of failure to report child abuse by the state. Gagnon, Faller and Kane have also been charged with lying to police.

Criminal charges have not been filed against Martin.

Frazier, former assistant football coach and parent liaison at Manatee High, has been charged with seven counts of misdemeanor battery and three counts of interfering with a student's attendance.

Attorneys for Gagnon, Kane and Faller attended Monday's meeting and unsuccessfully argued their clients should not have their pay stopped until a hearing is conducted.

“What happens if a home gets foreclosed on?” said Richard Reinhart, Gagnon's attorney. “What happens if there is financial ruin?”

Reinhart, who made an animated argument on Gagnon's behalf, raised the possibility of a lawsuit because suspension without pay was being voted on before a hearing has taken place.

“If you do not want to incur any more financial loss, do not take the steps you are taking,” Reinhart said to the board before the vote.

“The threat of a lawsuit and getting loud does not mean what you did was wrong,” Harmon said to Mills.

Reinhart opened his argument by comparing Gagnon's situation to the Salem witch trials.

“This will not stand,” Reinhart said. “He has done nothing wrong. His suspension is based on political bias.”

Board member Bob Gause, who recommended Gagnon become interim superintendent in September 2012 when Tim McGonegal resigned amid serious budget mismanagement, voted to suspend Gagnon without pay, but did voice a concern with the district's report on Gagnon.

“I've got some real concerns,” Gause said.

Horne, meanwhile, was hired in 2005 as the lead investigator for the newly created Office of Professional Standards. She transferred amid the district's investigation into Frazier on Jan. 28 to Prine Elementary, where she served as assistant principal.

Martin was hired as staff attorney in 2010 and was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of District Support Services in June 2011. He was moved back to staff attorney this spring, before being put on paid leave in August. The district went over two years without a staff attorney.

After being alerted to possible misconduct by Frazier, Horne interviewed seven Manatee High employees on Nov. 15, 2012, and was given information as well as names of potential victims.

A teacher told Horne she had seen a student sitting on either Frazier's lap or his knee inside his office.

After Horne's interviews were conducted, a meeting was held consisting of Horne, Faller, Kane and Manatee High principal Don Sauer. Martin was on a speaker phone and school attorney John Bowen was also aware of the situation.

Bowen told the Herald-Tribune he recommended that Horne not call the state-mandated hotline at that time because nothing he heard constituted child abuse and no victim had come forward.

Frazier had been put on paid leave Nov. 15, and returned to school the next day. According to a district report it was Martin who made the decision for Frazier to return.

Horne interviewed Frazier on Nov. 16.

Gagnon, through Martin, told Horne her investigation needed to be swift because Frazier was needed back on the sidelines for Manatee High's playoff football game that night.

Through her attorney, Derek Byrd, Horne said she was simply following the directions of her superiors, Martin and Bowen.

On Jan. 9, a letter was delivered to Sauer by a former Manatee student who said Frazier had grabbed her, asked for a nude photograph and said that he loved her.

Horne interviewed the girl and her mother, but little else was done, according to a district report.

On Jan. 28, Horne transferred to Prine Elementary, and Martin took over the investigation until the Bradenton Police Department began an investigation of its own on Feb. 8.

Horne and Martin also came under question last week when the Herald-Tribune reported a Bayshore High cafeteria manager remained on the job for over a year as several school district officials abandoned concerns the employee had gotten a student pregnant.

Horne briefly interviewed the girl, who denied the worker was the father. Horne did not investigate further.

A more thorough investigation would have revealed that Leverna Williams, the Bayshore High employee, had been having sex with the student when he was 40 and she was 16. The student became pregnant by Williams when she was 18.

Horne, through her attorney, said she did not continue to investigate on the advice of Martin, her superior.

Williams' resignation was approved at Monday night's meeting.

Also at Monday night's meeting, several dozen players and students associated with the Manatee High baseball program showed up in support for coach Dwayne Strong.

The district is currently investigating Strong, and sources say the investigation is centering around possible financial improprieties and ethical concerns.

The Florida High School Activities Association is aware of the district's investigation, according to a spokesman.